Flexible flotation gear



Dec. 15, 1936. G A Q R ETAL 2,064,674

FLEXIBLE FLOTATION GEAR Filed A ril 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN T 0R5. GUY ALuBuR a.

EDD\E MoLL. oY. FREDRK; E. FLADER.

BY I A TT S.

Dec. 15, 1936. LUBURG g L 2,064,674

FLEXIBLE FLC JTATION GEAR Filed April 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV EN TORS. GUY A. LUBURGa- EDDIE. MOLLDY PREDRIQE .FLADER.

BY I

" 'ATTOR s.

An object of this invention is to provide means water is relatively central, it becomes desirable -5 for flexibly mounting a pontoon with respect to to permit the whole pontoon to move bodily with an aircraft body. respect to the aircraft, and the flexible mount-' A further object is to so arrange the mounting ing of our invention permits'of such bodily movethat the pontoon may tilt with respect to the ment in addition to tilting. Should landings be aircraft axis by which take-oi! or landing shocks made with the ship not trimmed level laterally, 10 are adequately absorbed. local stresses might be imposed toward one chine A further object is to provide means by which or the other of the pontoon, making lateral rockthe float may move-bodily, while maintaining its ing of the pontoon desirable, and in one embodiparallelism or original relationship with the airment of the invention we provide for this. This craft, closer to or farther from said aircraft. lateral rocking, however, would induce less stress 16 Still another object is to provide means by in the pontoon structure than the other forces which'thefloat may rock through limited angles previously mentioned, so at times it may be with respect to the aircraft. deemed unnecessary to provide for this. The ef- A further object is to provide a mount comfeet of waves, while the aircraft is on the water, bining the three movements enumerated above, might also have'an influence on the provision 20 namely, rocking, tilting and bodily movement. of rocking arrangements in the pontoon mount- Although there have-been disclosures in the ing.

' prior art of flexibly mounted aircraft floats, it Additional objects will become apparent in has been customary in the construction of conreading the specification and claims, and in viewventional seaplanes, to mount the floats rigidly ing the drawings, in which: 5 with respect thereto, and ,the float design has Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an, aircraft been so arranged, by the use of V-bottoms, that including one embodiment of the invention; the shock of take-off and landing at high speed Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly broken away, has been largely absorbed by virtue of the shape of the embodiment of Fig. 1 showing the strucof the bottom. However, with seaplanes being tural arrangement involved; 30 built for greater'speeds, it becomes diflicult to Fig. 3. is a perspective view of an aircraft so design the bottom that adequate shock ab.- .including a second embodiment of the invention;

. sorption is attained, since the impact of a float and body on the water at high speed, regardless of Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the aircraft of Fig. the shape of the float body, approaches the effect 3 showing the details of pontoon mounting. 35 of the water being absolutely solid, rather than In the figures, similar elements in both emdi splaceable, and the bottom of the float, and the bodiments will be designated by similar numbers. pontoon construction generally must then be- The airplane includes the usual fuselage Ill, wings come exceedingly strong, with consequent weight II and I2, empennage l3 and tractor power plant increases, in order to withstand the loads to M. Below the fuselage, in spaced relation therewhich it is subjected. Thus, it becomes apto, a'pontoon or float I5 is mounted. Although parent that flexible mounting of the float is de- We show airplanes embodying a single float, it is sirable. Since the landing and take-off attitudes Within the purview of this invention to provide of an aircraft on the water may vary as betwin floats. 'It will likewise be assumed that in tween nose-up and nose-down positions, the point the embodiments shown, wing tip floats, which 45 of impact of the pontoon with the .water may, are old in the art, may be utilized. according to the landing being efiected, be. well Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, we proforward, central or well aft on the pontoon. The vide a pair of forward struts l6 and I1 pivoted maximmn stresses will be localized for a brief at their lower ends in laterally spaced relationperiod at the point of impact, and .to relieve ship to the upper deck of the float I5, these struts 50 these stresses it becomes desirable to permit verl6 and I] converging upwardly to a fitting l8 pivtieal oscillation of the pontoon with respect to oted at l9 to a movable. element 20 of a shock the. aircraft body by which the pontoon may yield absorber 2 I, the housing of which is fixed within when it strikes the water to alleviate the local the fuselage It. It will be noted that these struts stresses. Our invention provides, then, means by are arranged well forward of the float step 22. 6

Patented Dec. 15, 1936 FLEXIBLE FLOTATION GEAR Guy A. Luburg, Snyder, Eddie Molloy, Buffalo,

and Fredric E. Flader, Kenmore, N. Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of New York Application April 6, 1935, Serial No. 14,966

- 8 Claims. (01. 244-) This invention relates to improvements in aircraft landing gears, and particularly relates to flexible mountings for airplane floats on aircraft.

craft and by which longitudinal tilting of the float is permitted with respect to the aircraft. If the point of impact of the-pontoon with the which the float is yieldably mounted on the air- Rearwardly of the float step, a shock absorber 23 is mounted within the pontoon structure and is centrally disposed in the plane of. symmetry thereof. A movable element 24 of the shock absorber projects above the float deck and has pivoted thereto a pair of struts 25 and 26 which diverge upwardly to pivotal connections 21 and 28 with the aircraft fuselage I 0. Thus far, it will be seen that the shock absorbers 2| and 23, which are constructed for a limited movement, will permit the float to move bodily upward and downward with respect to the fuselage, and will permit the float to tilt longitudinally with respect to the fuselage by the deflection of one shock absorber to a greater extent than the other. In order to locate the float in the correct longitudinal. position with respect to the aircraft, a diagonal radius frame 29 is provided, this frame comprising a pair of struts 30 and 3|, the strut 30 being pivoted at itsrearward end adjacent the pivot 21, and at its forward lower end adjacent the point of juncture of the strut I! with the float l5. Similarly, the rearward end of the member 3| is pivoted adjacent the pivot 28, and the forward lower end thereof is pivoted adjacent the point of juncture of the strut IS with the float. Interbracing 32 may be provided between the struts 30 and 3| to stiffen the assembly. In operation, should the forward end of the float tend to tip up, the shock absorber 2| will deflect and the float will tend to swing about the pivots 21 and 23. Should the'point of. float impact be rearward of the step 22, the shock absorber 23 will deflect and the float will tend to move about the forward ends of the struts 30 and 3|. Should the point of impact be central, in the neighborhood of the step 22, both shock absorbers 2| and 23 will deflect and the float will move bodily closer to the fuselage Ill.

In Figs. 3 and 4 we provide a plurality of shock absorber struts 33, 34, 35, and 36, each mounted in the deck of the float IS, the several shock absorbers being quadrilateral in plan. Each shock absorber includes a plunger or movable member 31 equipped with a universal connection "forming a point of attachment for a substantially verand aft swinging. However, since the shock ab- 'sorber units 33 to 36, inclusive, are independently mounted, the float may rock laterally to the position A or B from the central position 0, as indicatcd in Fig. 4. Longitudinal displacement of the float IS with respect to the fuselage I0 is limited.

by means of independent radius struts 43 and 44, the lower forward end of the strut 43 being pivotedadjacent the joint 38 of the shock absorber 33, and at its upper end to the fuselage adjacent the corresponding longitudinally aligned joint'ofthe strut 39. Similarly, the strut 44 is pivoted adjacent the joint 38 of the shock absorber 34 and extends upwardly and rearwardly to the fuselage joint of that strut emanating from the shock -ibsorber 36.

Under tilting influence of the float, the radius struts 43 and 44 will be twisted relative to each othersJnder the influence of longitudinal tilting, the radius struts 43 and 44 control the iongitudinal displacement of the float relative to the fuselage, and permit the same degree of relative movement of the float as obtained in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2. Thus, the solid line position in Fig. 4 shows the normal float position, and the dotted line float contour shows a position which the float may assume upon nose impact, by which the float is tilted longitudinally upwardly with respect to the fuselage. Similarly, should impact on the float be directed rearwardly there- .of, the float would tend to move nose down with respect to the fuselage. By the forward and downward slant of the radius struts in both embodiments of the float mounting, the float is caused to move forward when it is deflected by impact with the water. This has the effect of advancing the flotation center with respect to the aircraft center of gravity, with consequent minimization of a nosing over tendency of the aircraft in a hard landing or a nose-down landing.

By the above construction, we provide resilient float mounting for the major landing positions to which a seaplane may be subjected. It may be found most desirable to utilize the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in case a twin float instalstanding our invention, that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. We aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes.

What is claimed is: Y 1. In a flexible mounting for a float spaced below an aircraft body, a forwardly located vertically acting shock absorber having a movable portion, adjacent said body, struts jointed to said movable portion and diverging laterally downward, the lower ends of said struts having jointed connections with said float, a second rearwardly located vertically acting shock absorber having a movable portion, adjacent said float, struts jointed to said movable portion and diverging laterally upward, the upper ends of the last said struts having jointed connections with said body, and radius rods extending, one on each side of the plane of symmetry, from the float joint of one said forward strut to the body joint of one said rearward strut.

2. In a flexible mounting for a float body spaced below an aircraft body, a forwardly located vertically acting shock absorber having a movable portion, adjacent one said body, a forwardly located substantially vertical strut articulating said shock absorber to said other body, a second rearwardly located vertically acting shock absorber having a movable portion, adjacent the other said body, a rearwardly located vertical strut articulating said shock absorber to the said one body, and a radius strut articulated to one said body adjacent said forward strut and to the other said body adjacent said rearward strut.

3. In. a flexible mounting for two elongated aircraft bodies spaced from one another and subject to relative movement, longitudinally spaced resilient means, one adjacent one said body and the other adjacent the other said body,

means connecting each said resilient means to the opposite body, and a radius rod articulated at one end to one said body opposite said forward resilient means and articulated at its other end to the other said body opposite said rearward resilient means.

4. In a flexible mounting for a float body spaced below an aircraft body, a shock absorber, having a movable element, adjacent one said body, struts articulated to said movable element extending to laterally spaced points on said other body, a second shock absorber longitudinally spaced from the first, having a movable element, adjacent said other body, and struts articulated to said last mentioned movable element extending to laterally spaced points on said one body.

5. In a flexible mounting for a float body spaced below an aircraft body, a' shock absorber, having a movable element, adjacent one said body, struts articulated to said movable element extending to laterally spaced points on said other body, a second shock absorber longitudinally spaced from the first, having a movable element, adjacent said other body, struts articulated to said last mentioned movable element extending to laterally spaced points on said one body, and diagonal struts connecting the forward and rearward laterally spaced body points on each side of the float plane of symmetry.

6. In a mounting for a float body spaced below an aircraft body, a pair of longitudinally spaced V-struts, one having its apex attached to one said body and its spaced ends attached to laterally spaced apart points on the other said body, and the other V-strut having its apex attached to the other said body and its ends attached to laterally spaced apart points on the one said body, and a shock absorber in the connectionbetween each V-strut apex and the adjacent body.

7. In a flexible mounting for two elongated aircraft bodies, a shock absorber adjacent one said body and a shock absorber longitudinally spaced from the first, adjacent the other said body, and struts connecting the respective shock absorbers with opposite points on the other bodies.

8. In a flexible mounting for two elongated aircraft bodies, a shock absorber adjacent one said body and a shock absorber longitudinally spaced from the first, adjacent the other said body, struts connecting the respective shock absorbers with opposite points on the other bodies, and a diagonal strut connecting the anti-shock absorber ends of said first named struts.

GUY A. LUBURG. EDDIE MOLLOY. FREDRIC E. FLADER. 

